Lordstown Motors has seen its fair share of challenges over the past few years. Aside from the sudden resignation of the company's CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez, the startup has also been plagued by a federal investigation relating to pre-orders of vehicles and the merger between DiamondPeak and Legacy Lordstown.

Despite a turbulent period, the company appears to be heading in the right direction, with Foxconn's chairman Young Liu telling Nikkei Asia that electric pickups will begin shipping in the second half of 2022. The tech giant purchased Lordstown's EV factory for $230 million last year, with the Taiwanese company agreeing to build the upcoming Endurance, as well as Fisker's electric cars at the plant.

The Ohio-based carmaker recently posted the above picture, featuring white-painted Endurance pickups at the production plant. "Thanks to our collaboration with Foxconn, our pre-production vehicles are rolling out of assembly and into diverse testing environments," the caption reads.

Previous pre-production attempts were less successful for Lordstown. In February last year, a prototype caught fire and burnt to the ground just over a mile away from the company's research and development center in Farmington Hills. Hopefully, the latest batch isn't afflicted with too many serious pre-production jitters, especially if they want to deliver on Liu's promise.

The aforementioned issues certainly delayed the production of the electric pickup. The company will have to act swiftly if it wants to create excitement around its vehicle. In recent months, the Ford F-150 Lightning has received plenty of positive attention, and Rivian's R1T is finally overcoming its initial teething problems.

But it's not only those highly capable rivals Lordstown should be concerned about. It may be delayed, but the Tesla Cybertruck still has several thousand eager customers waiting for its 2023 arrival. What's more, GMC isn't going to be left behind with the upcoming Hummer EV pickup. We sincerely hope Foxconn's chairman can deliver on his promise before it's too late for the company.